Two Immortals
by AgentZwolf
Summary: All this time, Ozpin and his inner circle have fought against her. All this time, the Wizard has fought the witch. All this time, Salem already had an adversary? All this time, Ozpin has been doing someone else's job? Well, she was right about him. Such arrogance. prepare yourselves for OC OP-ness, and Jaune Arc OOC!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody, AgentZwolf here.**

 **Before we begin, i just want to say sorry for not updating my previous stories, and being on hiatus since... August?** **Dear god has it really been half a year?** **Well anyway, the reason for my hiatus was because of one of my previous stories, "The Seraph", which was a re-write of another story "The Silver Lancer". I didn't enjoy the serious tone of "The Seraph" as i thought, so i scrapped it. And because i don't want to make another stupid mistake again. I decided to go on a bit of a break to get my head together before i dive into it again.**

 **So in short, this is a re-write, o a re-write. How many other double re-writes have you read? No seriously, tell me.**

 **Anyway, without further ado, this is my new "Two Immortals". Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RWBY**

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Two Immortals

Prologue: Even Immortals Feel Fatigue

 _First person POV_

 ** _27 Years before Canon_**

Where did it all go wrong?

We were supposed to go on a mission to a slightly remote village, just another simple patrol mission. Not too exciting, not too boring. Well, not for my team anyway.

I walked down the streets of the village. My team and I were in our final years at Haven academy. Just another month and a half before we graduate. The people waved at me as I walked proudly with my spear in my hands, resting on my left shoulder, my cape blowing in the wind, sporting an emblem which was a circle with six feathered wings, with each pair at a certain angle. The people were all smiling, the village was a lot more peaceful since me and my team came here. And considering the village was occupied by bandits for the last three days before we arrived, the people were more than grateful for our arrival.

So why?

Why did this happen?

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a Grimm roar. I turned to the source of the roar to see a Beowolf in front of a little girl with blonde hair tied to a bun and green eyes. I grit my teeth and picked up my spear and rushed towards the girl. As I got closer I spun around swinging my spear and decapitated the Grimm before it fell to the ground and dissipated into smoke. I turned to the girl, my silver hair and cape blowing in the wind. I could see the girl was in awe, but this is hardly the time for it.

"You can't stay here kid, find a safe place and hide." The girl snapped out of her thoughts and nodded before running off to find somewhere safe.

After seeing her run off, I turn to see someone familiar, she was around 5ft 9in tall with long curly pink hair almost reaching her waist. She was wearing relatively light armor, though they all share the same color scheme, white and blue with a golden trim. She wielded a broadsword with an armguard shaped like a wing along with a kite shield. She also had wings on her back, indicating she was a Faunus, a half-human, half-animal race. She was slightly shorter than me like everyone else in the team, except for Richard. I rushed over to her and killed the Ursa that was about to strike her from behind with a downward stab to the skull.

"Haven't I taught you enough Florina? Always watch your surroundings." The girl known as Florina groaned a bit.

"Hey, lay off. It's my first time fighting a horde this big. We can't all be badasses fighting thousands of Grimm alone y'know." She said in slight annoyance at me while I just shrugged.

"If it's any consolation, you're already badass in your own right. You know you're badass when you get a title." I said with a sheepish grin as I added another Beowolf to my kill count.

"Riiiiiiight. That's great coming from 'The God of War'." She said sarcastically while decapitating yet another Beowolf.

The title was something I got after taking down whole teams single handedly during the Vytal Festival Tournament, leading my team to win twice in a row. Of course, I had to let my team handle the Doubles and singles rounds to avoid everyone thinking they were a bunch of slackers. There were multiple smaller scale tournaments in between the times my team won the Vytal Festival Tournament in which I participated in, thus earning my title.

"Again, if it's any consolation, 'Angel of the Battlefield' sounds pretty cool." Florina was about to say something when my scroll rang, I picked it up and answered the call. "Talk to me." I spoke to the other side of the call.

" _Zwolf, we need your help outside the village. Mary and I saw a kid outside the village about to be attacked by Beowolves. I think I found out why the Grimm attacked_." The voice said before the sound of flesh being cut was heard.

"Just hang on Richard. Florina and I just finished up inside the village, we're coming. We already called for a Bullhead extraction in case things get really messy."

" _Hurry, I don't think we can handle them much longer_." I hung up as Florina walked over to me.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Richard and Mary need our help outside the village. Looks like they found out the source of our problems. Come on." I gestured to move, and Florina nodded before we both ran for the gates.

As we reached the outskirts of the village, we saw two people fighting a horde of Grimm, one of them was a man towering at 6ft 3in wielding a double-bladed battle axe with a handle one and a half times the length of the axe blades. The man wore a white and blue suit deigned for combat purposes infused with dust as evidenced by the blue light glowing coming from the lines along the suit. The other person was a woman standing at 5ft 7in wielding a shield that opens up into a bow, firing arrows that can take a Beowolf's head clean off in one hit. She wore light armor with a gauntlet on her left arm stretching from her shoulder to her hand. The two were in front of a child around 3 years old with brown hair and amber eyes. Wasting no time, Florina and I ran over to them and helped with the Grimm surrounding the so they don't get overwhelmed. When all the Grimm were gone, Richard let out a sigh of relief.

"You really have a knack for dropping in when someone needs you. You know that right?" Richard panted heavily as he tried to keep himself upright with his axe and not collapse from exhaustion.

"I'm guessing you ran out of gas before we got here?" I had a bit of a smug grin on my face.

"Not everyone is born with your kind of aura reserves. So lay off, I'm pooped over here." I then turned to Mary who had an injury on her leg that wasn't healing, meaning she had run out of aura. She was sitting down on the ground next to the little girl her and Richard was protecting earlier.

"How'd you get injured Mary?" I asked her.

"I pushed her out of the way when the Ursa that attacked and it hit my leg." She gestured to the little girl in her arms, who was still a bit scared.

"Heroism is fine and all, but don't get careless. If I worry too much about you out here it'll get us both killed."

"Aww, but I like it when you worry." She pouted at me. Seriously, I can hardly stop myself when she asks me to do something with that face, though I try to refuse.

"Guys, can you not flirt when we have bigger problems?" Richard pointed to a figure in the distance.

The figure was basically the Grimm version of a knight, with bone armor and a black body, it wielded a longsword made from an entire bone. Or at least it looked like it since it looked like one whole item instead of being comprised of parts like how it should be. It had red eyes, shining beneath its helmet, and it looked angry, very angry. The Grimm knight plunged its sword into the ground and a shadow spreads from underneath it, covering a rather wide radius. And from it, a horde of Grimm rose from the ground like zombies. I knew we were at a disadvantage, so I came up with a plan. Though admittedly it was pretty much suicidal.

"Florina, take Richard, Mary and the kid and evacuate the village. I'll hold them off as long as I can. The bullhead should be here soon. Go!" I ordered them. Everyone was against it, especially Mary.

"But, what about you?" I cut her off.

"I said go!" Florina and Richard nodded before picking up Mary and the kid and ran back to the village. Mary struggled as she insisted on staying but Richard ignored her and ran back as I hear the sound of the bullhead I called for earlier finally arrive. As they left, I turned to the Grimm horde in front of me.

"I thought I had reduced your kin to extinction, guess Salem's been busy raising one. Oh well, I guess it's my job to make sure to keep you Millennium Grimm all extinct." I said to the Grimm knight before going into a stance with my spear at the ready. "I know that whenever a Grimm dies you all re-spawn back at your birthing pools. But just in case you retain your memories, tell your boss I'm coming for her." A small red glyph appeared on my spear at the blunt end, and my body at the base of my neck. "But you know what? Scratch that, I'll tell her myself."

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 _Third person POV_

Mary kept thrashing around, trying to make Richard let go. She hit and kicked and flailed, but to no avail as they ran back to the village.

"No! Let me go, we have to go back! Zwolf!" She screamed as the three got back to the village gates. Richard set her down when they reached where the villagers were.

"Will you get a hold of yourself?! Zwolf bought us time to get these villagers to safety. Once they're safe, Florina and I will go back for him. Let's not waste time." His voice progressively got weaker as a single stray tear rolled down his face.

As the bullhead Zwolf called for finally touched down, Richard and Florina went to work on evacuating the villagers onto the bullhead, along with Mary.

"Please, bring him back." Mary pleaded to Richard as she started to cry.

"I'll do what I can." Richard replied unsure if they can get to him in time. He knew Zwolf was strong, but he doubted he can handle that big of a Grimm horde alone. He needed to hurry, and hope that Zwolf can hold the Grimm long enough.

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Zwolf panted in exhaustion as he took a look around him. The Grimm horde that was surrounding him several minutes ago, were now a pile of bodies, slowly fading into smoke. The Grimm knight was wounded, without an arm and was using its sword to stay upright. Zwolf was injured as well, running out of aura and was covered in shallow cuts from whenever he barely managed to dodge the Grimm knight's attacks. Like his adversary, Zwolf is using his weapon to stay upright.

"You're one tough son of a bitch aren't you?" Zwolf chuckled as he was panting heavily with a heavy smile on his face. The Grimm knight simply glared at him as he have been the entire fight, but was obviously winded.

"Well, I can't stay here much longer. Mary is probably already crying by now, and a gentleman shouldn't leave a crying girl alone, whether she's your girlfriend or not, and she is." Zwolf kept his smile as he stood up straight and went into a stance, the Grimm knight followed and seemed to agree with him.

A Grimm agreeing with a human, Well, wouldn't be the first time.

"So, let's finish this." Without a moment's hesitation, the two adversaries lunged at each other and swung their respective weapons. Once the two came to a stop, it was a few seconds of silence before the head of the Grimm knight fell off and it slumped down as it faded away into nothing.

Zwolf let out a sigh of relief as he looked down to see a big gash on his abdomen, and since he ran out of aura it'll take a while to heal. He turned and walked back to the village, using his spear as a walking stick, he trudged his way back, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Completely exhausted from his earlier fight, not to mention wounded. He didn't hide his fatigue, he couldn't even if he wanted to, his breathing deepened, his steps slowing by the second, until eventually, he couldn't take it anymore. He leaned back against a tree and slid down.

"Sorry guys, I won't be able to walk back on my own. I'm way too tired, I'm just gonna sit here and….. Rest." His eyelids grew heavy, he was losing blood very quickly thanks to the wound the Grimm knight gave him. He then slowly closed his eyes, and let out his last breath.

Which he did for the next few minutes before he woke up.

" ** _Gasp_** Oh, goddamnit! I died again, shit." After a few minutes of controlling his beating heart and erratic breathing, Zwolf quickly got up and inspected himself.

"Torn clothes, as usual. It's a good thing 'She' didn't find me while I was-" Zwolf gasped when he saw a woman with deathlike pale skin, red eyes, and black veins around her body. He saw her flash a nightmarish grin, and Zwolf's eyes widen in a startling revelation.

Zwolf grabbed his weapon and used his aura to run faster, when he arrived at the village him and his team were trying to save. His legs simply gave out as he gazed at the carnage before him.

The village was destroyed; footprints for many kinds of Grimm were left behind all over the remains of he village, just immediately he recognized the footprints of at least 2 Goliaths, a Deathstalker, and a few dozen Beowolves and Ursas give or take. The buildings were destroyed beyond recognition, and the presence of the Goliaths themselves were proof 'She' had a personal hand in this.

"What's wrong, Zwolf? It's not like this was the first time I personally raided a village. I may not have killed the civilians, but your friends were more than enough to sate my children." Cooed a voice behind him. He knew that voice all too well; he's known her forever at this point.

"What do you want from me?" His voice was weak and almost desperate to her, it was almost arousing for Salem to hear her one true adversary crumble before her very eyes. "You've taken everything from me five times over what's it going to take for you to stop?" He turned to her, his eyes were so lifeless, so empty, it truly was satisfying for Salem to see the man she has fought all these millennia, finally fall before her.

"Stop, you have been a thorn in my side for far too long. I can't exactly have you killed, in doing so will kill me in the process, and no amount of magic can kill either of us. One must kill the other, and in doing so, neither will survive. Leave the world of huntsmen and huntresses behind, and you have my word that I will finally leave you alone."

"And how can I be sure of that?"

"Oh, Wolfy~ We've known each other before we were chosen by the two gods, you know I'm still bound to my family's code of honor, Grimm Queen or otherwise." Salem paused as her mind returns to a time long forgotten, a time when she was…. Human. "So, what is your answer?" There was only silence it was barely heard, but Salem heard it nonetheless.

" _Yes_." She smirked victoriously.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hello everyone, Agent Zwolf here._**

 ** _Wow, two chapters in two days? I am on a roll!_**

 ** _Though, i was already working on this chapter when i uploaded the last one._**

 ** _I won't keep you guys up here i was just wondering where the reviews are, i'm always up for some constructive criticism, and if you have any suggestions, please go one ahead. I already have an start and and end to this story, all i have to do now is to connecct point A to point B._**

 ** _Well anyways, enjoy the chapter~_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RWBY_**

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Chapter 1: Perma-Death was never an option

 _Third person POV_

Atop the frigid mountains of northern Mistral, named Mt. Nix, it is a place where only the strongest of Grimm dare to set foot. With steep slopes and jagged rocks, it is no wonder only Flying-type Grimm such as Nevermores or Griffins are able to reach the top, and even then it's only a handful of both species, and all are considered Century Class Grimm.

See, there have been many ways of classifying Grimm throughout history. Many points can be noted in history where there was one way of classifying Grimm, before another, more efficient way of doing it overtook the previous, and caused it to be considered obsolete.

There were ways of classifying Grimm by its size, levels of danger, and species – which was the one that stuck – but there was one way of classifying Grimm 50 years ago, by Dr. Prometheus Oobleck who made a system of classifying Grimm by their age, known better as the **_Annus System_**. They would take a Grimm's size, weight, and level of intelligence to determine its age, and since Grimm can only die by being killed, there becomes a frightening possibility of there existing Grimm approximately centuries old, especially Grimm born within the Pre-Dust era, where Mankind and Faunuskind were practically defenseless against the older, stronger, and smarter Grimm. Classifying Grimm this way divides them into 4 categories;

· **Anno** Class (1-9 Years)

· **Decennium** Class (10-99 Years)

· **Saeclum** Class (100-999 Years)

· **Millennium** Class (1000~ Years)

Though sadly, due to lack of evidence of the existence of **Millennium** class Grimm, it was eventually considered useless and obsolete by most of the populace. Yet, Grimm scholars, and a number of veteran huntsman have adopted the **_Annus System_** of classification to categorize Grimm, though they are few in number and many have yet to prove the existence of **Millennium** Class Grimm. But contrary to popular belief, **Millennium** Class Grimm do exist, they're just smart enough to learn how to efficiently hide, and again, contrary to popular belief, Grimm start to evolve and change after reaching a certain age, regardless of the species of Grimm. Proof of this, is the fact that there are a number of 'unique' Grimm in the wilds. This is because, following the **_Annus_** **_system_** and several theories made by Dr. Prometheus Oobleck, Grimm that have reached the **_Saeclum_** Class will evolve, based on their environment. For instance, if a Grimm were to live in the high mountains, they would either evolve into a quadropedal-winged Grimm similar to a 'Griffin' or simply an evolved form of a 'Nevermore'.

At the base of Mt. Nix, a man wearing a black vest with dark green trim walked out of a cabin with an axe on his shoulders. The man went to a nearby tree and chopped it down using his axe, after about a minute of cutting, the tree finally fell. This has been his daily life since he came here, a dull boring life. But at least it's not as painful as his last life. He's been many things in his life, a scientist, an engineer, a business man…. A Huntsman. The man was absent mindedly chopping wood for the fireplace when he felt someone approach him, years of being a huntsman have trained his natural senses to rival that of a Faunus, and using his aura he can sense someone as far as 30 meters away. He turns in the direction the person is approaching him, and saw a scantily clad woman with snow white hair running towards him. He could easily tell she was a Faunus by the fox ears and three tails, or that would be what he thought if he didn't know one simple fact.

The woman felt like a Grimm.

See, some people, when trained enough can use their aura to sense other people. The Aurean Monks in Mistral spend up to 20 years meditating, in order to gain this ability. Known as "Aura Sense", this ability allows for some very useful tracking methods and enemy detection, and it can also be used against Grimm. Grimm lack an aura, thus they lack a soul, which gives an interesting feeling when someone uses "Aura Sense" on a Grimm. Aura Sense makes you feel a bright light, when used on humans – or anything with a soul, which means everything but Grimm – for Grimm however, it makes you feel a void, like there's a big moving hole walking around, which makes it easier to spot Grimm. The woman didn't feel like a bright light, nor did she feel like a void, she felt like a small flame, a spark that had just came to life, ever so slowly growing brighter. He knew these signs; he had no doubt that the woman was a millennium Grimm. How could he know? Well, he had all the time in the world to study her behavior and such, after all.

"I'm Home~" The woman singsonged as she came into hearing range.

She's been freeloading in his house ever since he moved here.

"Did you miss me?" She asked in a sweet tone, but he already know what she was really after.

This is Yuri, a millennium Grimm. Someone who has reached the level of a Millennium Class Grimm about less than 100 years ago, which is very recent compared to other existing Millennium Grimm. He gave her that name when he found out about her "Tendencies". I mean, it's not every day you meet someone who can say that they've been laid with 200 different people. And by the looks of it, she's not lying. Because unfortunately – or fortunately if you consider a girl raping you is a good thing – he's been subjected to appease her in "Mating season", since then she's been clinging to him like a child craving for attention, she'll do whatever I ask. And judging from the giant locker she has strapped to her back – which he had just found out – she had just finished what he had asked her to do.

"Did you get it?" He asked.

"Yup, I brought the girl here." She pointed to the locker on her back.

"Did you erase all the files of her even remotely existing?" He asked again while chopping a cylindrical block of wood

"All in this!" She raised her hand to show a flash drive, probably holding all the documents of the girl's existence.

"Did you do it discreetly?" He asked while carrying the log he had just chopped.

"Umm…." She got nervous all of a sudden and started fidgeting.

"Yuri." His eyes narrowed at her. He really didn't want Atlas on his ass, he was already on their shit list when I fought that Schnee specialist when she was causing trouble in a Faunus village to look into a lead on the White Fang.

"I destroyed the place when I was done, I even went ahead and spray painted a White Fang symbol on one of the walls to keep them off our tracks." She tried to defend herself frantically.

"Fine then." She sighed in relief. "No sexy time for you." She immediately latched on to his leg while crying.

"Nooo~! Anything but that, I need it." He tried to get her off, but it was hard to move with the locker – which was still on her back – weighing her down. Eventually he was able to drag her into the living room.

"Ugh, fine. But blowjobs only, nothing more." He wasn't willing to let it slide, but he was willing to lighten her punishment. She immediately latched on to my neck, which means the weight of the locker was shifted directly to my back.

"Oh, thank you Wolfy~?" She immediately paused and clamped her mouth shut. She jumped off his back and scurried to the corner.

"Yuri… What did I tell you?" His tone was ice cold, and his glare was like being held at knife point and being aimed by a firing squad at the same time.

"I'm sorry Zwolf!" She wrapped her three tails around herself for protection, scared out of her wits.

Gee, you'd think a girl would learn after being beaten within an inch of your life.

Zwolf sighed reigning in his anger; he already had what he needed so being angry won't be of much help. He needed to focus, even if he agreed to Salem's deal about staying away from the secret war she's waging on humanity. That doesn't mean he's staying out of the loop. He may have retired as a huntsman, but he still has contacts in the Underworld, whether Mistralian, Valean, Vacuoan, or even Atlesian. His information network runs deep, and is solidified with loyalty. His contacts are all top tier, whether it'd be among assassins, black market trader, or even members of the council of the four kingdoms, he has a lot of friends in a lot of high places, all of which are loyal only to him and him alone.

He has made sure his information network is tight lipped, to the point that not even Salem or her pawns are aware of them, even though he stepped back, away from the fight; he has people watching every single movement, underground or otherwise.

"Alright, alright. Now that I have what I need, all I need to do now is head to Vacuo. You sure you want to come along? You know the people of Kuroyuri see you as a guardian, protecting them from the Grimm. What do you think will happen when you leave? You know as much as I do that an 6th Tier Saeclum Class Grimm is out there looking for a nice place to nest in." He asked the terrified Yuri in the corner.

In the **_Annus System_** of classification, Grimm are further divided in their classes with tiers. Each tier represents how far a Grimm has progressed through a single class before moving onto the next class. For example, a 2nd Tier Decennium Class Grimm is about 20 years old, a 3rd Tier from the same class is 30 years old and so on. An 6th Tier Saeclum Class Grimm is about 600 years old, and considering Grimm go through the evolution process after the age of 500, you can guess how experienced this Grimm is accustomed to its new body, but considering it has another 400 years before reaching the Millennium Class, it still has a long way to go.

"Y-yes." She stuttered trying to regain composure. "It gets boring here. And do we have to go to Vacuo? Why not Vale? And besides, that 6th Tier Grimm would never come around here, even if I did leave. How could a Grimm with a brain capacity of a toddler know if I had left or not."

"Yuri, we're going to Sanus anyway, I know you and Remilia don't get along, but we're going to see her anyway if we're going to Sanus. Besides, we need to take her…" He pointed to the locker on Yuri's back. "…for analysis, and my lab is in Vacuo. And don't underestimate a Grimm, you of all people should know how deceptively smart some Grimm could be. I guess you can come along, but we're coming back to visit Kuroyuri to make sure nothing's happened to it."

"Fine." She grumbled and pouted but relented anyway.

"Well? Come on, I already have my bags set up. Let's get to the airport, the faster we leave the better." He went further into the house.

"Why did you want this hunk of junk anyway, it's not even finished." She inquired gesturing to the large hunk of metal strapped to her back.

"Yuri, I told you. The "hunk of junk" on your back is potentially very dangerous to humanity; they aren't ready for that kind of technology just yet." He walked back into the living room with a suitcase.

"And when will they be?" She inquired further.

"Until humanity learns that petty squabbles between themselves are meaningless, they won't be able to use their innovations in the future correctly. They can hardly prevent themselves from killing one another, how are they going to properly advance as a species without risking the entirety of their race altogether."

"Then why not destroy this?" She finally puts down the locker from her back to the ground. "If it's so dangerous, why keep it?"

"Just because they are not ready for this level of technology, does not mean I'm letting it go to waste. Now come on, we have a plane to catch." Zwolf said as the two left the cabin.

The two companions ran all the way to the airport in mistral; Zwolf using aura, and Yuri using her natural strength. Despite the looks people gave Yuri – whether perverted or not he couldn't exactly tell – they all simply assumed she was a huntsman and that the locker was her weapon. It was a hassle, getting the locker to be sent to Vacuo through a cargo ship, while Zwolf and Yuri got themselves economy class seats – much to Yuri's dismay.

 ** _A Few Hours Later_**

When the two arrived, they are picked up by a driver sent by the Chairman of the Vacuoan Council on a limo – Yuri practically squealed so hard Zwolf feared they'd have to pay for any broken or cracked windows. Despite being 75% desert, Vacuo managed to make several well maintained roads and even highways. You might be wondering 'What about the Grimm?', well the Vacuoan Council – especially after the current chairman's rise into power – were able to hire many Vacuoan huntsman into a special taskforce known as "Desert Phantoms", designed to deal with the Grimm in various areas, even the outer villages under direct orders from the chairman. And don't think anyone was forced into it, when the Vacuoan Council pays, they pay a lot. With a working highway, and a few slightly expensive highway toll booths in various parts around Vacuo, the council was able to gather more than enough money to keep the Desert Phantoms from going rogue or out of a job – you'd be surprised how much people would pay for a safe passage through the desert to visit their families in the outer villages.

As the two neared the capital, Zwolf couldn't help but wonder how his contact was doing after he helped her rise to power into a chairman of the council, but considering the happy faces of the people he'd seen as he passed them in the limo, she was doing a pretty damn good job.

"Heh, I bet she's enjoying herself a nice bottle of Brandy in her office. She must be having a blast." Zwolf mused to himself as the Vacuoan capital came into view.

In the tallest building in the capital, on the highest floor, a woman with a small stature with white, pink, and brown hair wearing a white trench coat and a bowler hat with a parasol her hands, is looking through a screen where it shows a limo passing through one of the toll booths. The screen freezes and zooms on a frame where it showed a man with white hair and emerald eyes in the limo.

The woman only smirked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello evryone, AgentZwolf here.**

 **I just want to say sorry for the delay on this one, school have been a pain in the ass. And with college entrance exams coming up, it'll be a while before the next chapter will be published.**

 **Thank you for your patience.**

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Chapter 2: Old Friends, and Victims

Zwolf and Yuri walked among the halls of the Vacuo Council building. Much like the town, the building has only the essentials and minimalistic décor as to not be a big burden on budget, the Chairman of the Council was like that, putting up a kind face for the people to associate her with, but also being strict and almost perfectionist when it came to her own ideas, and it was to be expected. She grew up in Vacuo, but more specifically he slums, the whore houses, the drug alleys, black market buildings, those were the places that make up her childhood, she was forced to learn how to fight as to not end up like the many other young girls she has seen in the slums. Zwolf was brought out of his musings when the secretary – who was already showing them around – stopped in front of a door. She came inside for a bit before coming back out.

"Ms. Politan will see you now." She bowed to us before taking her leave. I knocked on the door before walking inside.

Inside there was a young woman wearing a bowler hat, but don't let her appearance deceive you, she's a lot older compared to some of the councilmen, but it's a small number compared to how old Yuri and Zwolf are. She had an umbrella at her side, something she always kept with her at all times since she made it. The weapon is a hybrid between a portable shield, a lance, and a rifle, The umbrella is strong enough to withstand sniper rounds, but with its curvature allows her to parry blows from melee weapons and bullets alike, the umbrella has a sharp, circular spearhead protruding from the top, added with the strength of the umbrella's exterior and you have yourself a lance, the circular spearhead can open up and be used as a rifle, the rifle uses condensed dust bullets. The bullets are all circular, and since they are small, and the fact that they are _condensed_ Dust bullets, they can bust through many, many "Bullet-Proof" vests and armor, though with a drawback of short range, shotgun kind of short range.

Condensed Dust bullets are considerably more powerful than regular Dust bullets, because the energy from the Dust are contained in a very small very tight space that the bullets themselves should've been made _of_ Dust, the effects of which occurs after the bullets makes impact with something is noticeably more potent than that of regular dust bullets. Say, for instance, there are two people, one using regular Dust bullets, while the other uses condensed Dust bullets, aimed at the exact same target, of the exact same size, of the exact same material, and let's say the Dust bullets are filled with Fire Dust. The regular Dust bullet emits a small burst of flame when it impacts the target and burns a small area of the targets body, the condensed Dust bullet, on the other hand literally engulfs the target in flames and leaves nothing but ashes, that is how much more potent condensed Dust bullets are, the only downside is that Dust bullets are extremely expensive, and I'm pretty sure one bullet is worth a mansion because of how dangerous it is, and how meticulous and careful you have to be in order to make it.

She also has two revolving cylinders on both arms, hidden under her sleeves. Each cylinder has 6 syringes filled with dust. Just know that her semblance helps make full use of it.

"Darling! It's so good to see you again!" He woman exclaimed. Zwolf didn't even have to look to know that Yuri's ears twitched.

Unless you're this girl, in which case you just need the materials and make them yourself.

"Hello Cosmo, how are your kids?" Zwolf asked the woman who was small enough she had to jump I order to reach his neck.

"Don't you mean 'our' kids, Zwolf? Those two rascals love you so much, Neo even called you daddy." Yuri's ears and eyebrows twitch as she tries to reign in her anger.

Cosmo Politan is an old friend Zwolf has known since his days wandering the world, he met Cosmo 30 years ago, when she tried to swiftly steal his wallet, but Zwolf caught her before she could make a getaway. She tried fighting him, and used her small stature to her advantage, not very useful when facing against someone with untold years of experience under his belt. But, Zwolf saw potential in her, so instead of turning her in to the police for attempted theft, he decided to take her with him. She's one of the few people to know about his 'secret' – aside from other immortals like Yuri and Salem – and is one of Zwolf's most trusted informants. She was trained by him in many ways; he especially focused on techniques to utilize a spear or a lance, since Zwolf wanted to pass down his family – former, actually – techniques to at the very least, one person. Eventually she learned a number of useful techniques and made some herself. She incorporated a Fencer's swiftness and grace, with a Lancer's skill and dexterity to form a deadly move set, combined with her umbrella shield for defense, a rifle for range, along with a few acrobatics, and you have yourself one of the best huntsman in Remnant, and THE strongest huntsman in Vacuo.

See, in Vacuo, they value strength and survival skills, more than anything. This is why the government has created a ranking system for huntsmen. In Vacuo, huntsmen are filmed by a drone camera who follows huntsmen around while they were on missions and hunting Grimm, the feed is broadcasted back to the capital where the council validates it and ranks said huntsman based on skill, finesse, flair, and of course, kill count. The ranking system runs deep, so deep that the strongest of huntsmen can become members of the council, as long as they have the necessary political influence and power to back it up. So not only are members of the Vacuoan Council very smart people, they are also very strong people, and they are people who know the struggles of regular citizens because most of them were normal citizens – as 'normal' as a huntsman can get I suppose – so they are able to sympathize with the citizens in a way most are unable to do. This is why most of the things the Vacuoan Council does is for the betterment of the people. Heck, some of them are veterans who have seen the dark side of being a huntsman turn its ugly head as they watched their loved ones taken away from them. So the next time someone says a huntsman who controls the military ( **A/N: *cough* Ironwood. *cough*** ) has too much power, well….

Good thing they don't know about Vacuo. Not too much anyway.

"You know I was never good with kids, Cosmo." Suddenly the doors opened and two people came in. One was a young boy around 10 years old, with ginger colored hair, while the other was around 8 and who, the moment she saw Zwolf, promptly ran over to him and hugged his leg.

"Hey Neo, how's my favorite Ice-Cream girl?" Zwolf ruffled the girl's Brown, White, and Pink hair, who hugged his legs more.

"Hey, Zwolf. What made you come back here? I thought it was better in Mistral." A young boy with orange hair said. Though his words seem distant, his smile begged to differ. Though his smile wavered when the 8 year old Neo gave him the stink eye for calling Zwolf by his real name. She was always sensitive about him not calling Zwolf 'dad' since her 6th birthday.

"Nah, Mistral's swamps was way too damp for me. Sometimes I start to wonder why the hell I moved to a place that's hotter than Vacuo. Especially in the summer, man was that terrible. And what about you squirt? Thought you wanted to live in vale. See the sights, live on your own? Don't tell me you went back on your word? That hurts Roman." Cosmo started giving Roman a glare, while Neo's glare deepened – though they were for different reasons.

The moment was gone when a group of 10 came into the room, these were the rest of the Vacuoan Council members.

"Okay kids, I think it's time you leave. The grown-ups are going to have a meeting." Neo tried to protest by giving her mother a heartbroken 'But we just got here.' Look, but Cosmo's stern voice reluctantly made both her and Roman leave.

Once the kids left, everyone – except Zwolf and Yuri who stood next to Cosmo – sat down in their respective seats.

Soon enough, ten different men and women walked into the room, despite the absence of their weapons these people radiated strength that is matched by less than a hundred huntsmen around the world.

These are the "11 Desert Kings" ( **A/N: And queens.** ), the 11 strongest huntsmen in Vacuo ( **A/N: That includes Cosmo.** ). These people keep the happiness of the populace as their top priority because they _were_ one of the citizens before, some of them coming from the bottom of the barrel. Some of these people Zwolf guided at least once in their lives, and it almost brings a tear to his eyes how far some of the huntsmen in the room have gotten. The ten people who have just arrived in the room sat down in their respective seats within the room. The meeting has begun.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

 ** _Meanwhile_**

As the two were ushered out, little Roman and Neo were walking down the hall and turned at a corner when they saw a woman with silver hair and emerald eyes walk towards them, she seemed a little excited.

"If you're looking for uncle Zwolf, you're a little late Amber." Roman said to the girl now known as Amber, who pouted hearing the news.

This is Amber Schwardzchild, youngest child of Zwolf Schwardzchild, and currently one of the two remaining children still alive after Salem decided to hunt down all of Zwolf's descendants, the only reason Amber and her older sister Hera are alive was because of Zwolf's direct intervention.

"Aww, did the meeting start already? And here I was going to catch up with dad before it started." Neo walked up to her and gave her a reassuring pat, while giving her a look that said, 'I know the feeling'.

"By the way, where are those two new kids, Jaune and Nino?" Roman asked aloud.

"They're playing in their room." An emotionless voice came out of nowhere behind Roman. Roman nearly had a heart attack.

"OH GOD! Jaffar, what the heck? I told you not to do that." Roman yelled. He never liked when Jaffar did that, it didn't help that he had a knack for disappearing in a blink of an eye. It also didn't help that he had the emotional range of a wall, before he met Nino that is.

"Neo thought it'd be funny." Jaffar looked down to see Neo offering him a high five, to which he returned. "I don't get it."

Zwolf had a tendency to adopt kids, Jaffar being one of these kids, with Nino being adopted two years ago, and Jaune being adopted only recently. Zwolf found Jaffar a few years ago when he had gotten word of some kind of cult who were kidnapping children to be turned into assassins. As expected he didn't take it very well and went to raid their headquarters immediately after hearing about it. He left almost no survivors when he found out the kids who failed to become assassins became sacrifices for the cult, and Jaffar was the only successful child assassin. It was very difficult trying to rehabilitate Jaffar, but it was only after Nino was adopted that he made any progress.

Turns our Zwolf forgot to make sure all members of the cult died, and the remaining members congregated and made a new cult, with the same end goal. This time they did it in a slightly different way, this time they tried kidnapping children with high aura capacity at an early age. Unfortunately, Nino was one of these kids, and one of the cultists kidnapped her, while killing her family at the same time for good measure. When Zwolf saved her, and made sure to kill all of the cultists, he decided to adopt her and Jaffar in order to help rehabilitation (Jaffar) and to get rid of any residual trauma (Nino). The two immediately felt kinship towards one another which helped their rehabilitation, with Jaffar developing a protective streak towards Nino. It also helped that Zwolf make a great father figure for the two.

The topic of Jaune's adoption is…... complicated to say the least. His parents aren't dead perse, at least his mother isn't. It's just that the rest of his family aside from his 7 sisters and his mother met an…. Unfortunate death. They weren't hunted down by Zwolf's personal special ops forces, nooo. That's ridiculous.

"By the way Jaffar, aren't you usually with Nino? It's rare to see you two apart." Amber asked curiously.

"She said she wanted to spend time with Jaune." While it wasn't shown on his face, the telltale signs of raincloud looming over his head and the aura of gloom emanating from him were clear signs he was depressed. A somewhat of a common occurrence for him after meeting Nino, especially after Jaune was adopted.

"Tough luck, I'd stay away from girls, one day they'll cling to you like moss, and next thing you know they toss you for another man."

"Still salty after your first time getting dumped, Roman? I warned you you're too young to start dating." Amber just had to put salt into his wounds.

"Sh-shut up." Roman cried indignantly.

"Aww, is little Roman having trouble coming to terms with his breakup? That's what you get for not listening to my advice." Roman started yelling and having an overall temper tantrum when the door to the meeting room opened. Unbeknownst to the four, Zwolf and someone else with blonde hair and ocean blue eyes having an argument.

"I just want to see my son! I'm his mother, I have the right to do so." The woman yelled.

"You lost that right the moment you decided to look away from what's happened to him. I thought your father taught you to grow a spine." It looked like Zwolf wanted to outright punch the woman.

"How, how dare you-" The woman tried to hold some form of dignity, but was cut off by Zwolf.

"If you had at least tried to help him, this would have never happened!" Zwolf slapped her across the face. "You're the head of the Arc family damnit. If you had just started like it, maybe I would've just stopped at killing Nicholas. The only reason you and your daughters are alive is because of Jaune, remember that." Zwolf growled before leaving the woman alone.

It was always hard for Zwolf to rein himself in whenever he thought back to what happened to Jaune before he adopted him. He didn't want to outright massacre the entire Arc clan, but the rules amongst the 5 families were absolute.

Never turn your back on family.


End file.
